Aleksandar Mitrovic scored twice against Preston for the second time in a week to hand Championship leaders Newcastle United victory at Deepdale.

The Magpies, who beat Preston 6-0 in the EFL Cup on Tuesday, struggled for chances in the first half.

However, Serbia striker Mitrovic fired in a low strike and turned home after his header was parried after the break.

Preston's Jermaine Beckford scored in the 89th minute and Marnick Vermijl then hit the post in added time.

The match was in stark contrast to the thrashing the Magpies inflicted on Preston in midweek at St James' Park, with a low Paul Gallagher drive testing Newcastle goalkeeper Karl Darlow and Bailey Wright's header also forcing a save before half-time.

But two clinical Mitrovic finishes mean the Magpies are now on a seven-game winning run and Rafael Benitez's side remain three points clear at the top of the table.

Deepdale hosted a crowd of 20,724, Preston's highest attendance since 2009, as they chased a fifth successive home win in the league.

Substitute Beckford's late goal, on his first appearance since 27 August because of injury, briefly gave North End hope, while Newcastle survived a penalty appeal and Vermijl hitting a post in a nerve-jangling six minutes of injury time.

But Preston fell to a fifth successive league defeat by Newcastle and drop to 13th in the table.

Preston North End manager Simon Grayson:

"The referee said to me at the end if he's got it wrong he will apologise. Well that's no good to us now!

"Jermaine wouldn't go down if he's got an opportunity like that. It's cost us from getting anything out the game.

"We didn't get the breaks with the opportunity for two penalties. You get those breaks when you're at the top of the division."

Newcastle manager Rafael Benitez:

"Mitrovic has given me a very good problem to have. We are really pleased because the team is growing.

"We knew that it would be a tough game, they have beaten some good teams. So we were ready for that and we've been working hard on defence.

"In the second half we were much better. We had more space, more possibilities to counter attack and I think we did well.

"We did well to withstand their pressure and we used our quality to make the difference."